EVA SMITH

• Eva Smith


  A character who represents the oppression of women and the lower classes in early 20th Century society
• We never find out Eva's true identity within the play
• Eva Smith


  • She becomes a universal symbol of oppression
  • She represents the oppression that both women and the lower classes experienced in early 20th Century society
• What happened to Eva Smith


  1. Worked for Mr Birling and was fired for striking

  2. Worked at a shop, Milwards, where Sheila was instrumental in her dismissal

  3. Had a relationship with Gerald

  4. Had a relationship with Eric, with whom she became pregnant

  5. Turned to Mrs Birling's charity committee for aid, yet they rejected her, giving her pregnancy outside of wedlock as the reason

  6. Subsequently committed suicide by drinking disinfectant two hours before the play begins
• Eva symbolises the suffering of the lower-classes
• Eva is the victim of a patriarchal society and the class inequality which is apparent throughout the social hierarchy of 1912 Britain
• Eva demonstrates the need for a welfare state
• Eva Smith


  Priestley uses the name Eva as a reference to Eve, the first woman in the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden
• Eve


  From the Hebrew "to live" / "source of living"
• Eva's suicide is paradoxical, as the source of living has given up on existence
• Smith


  • Priestley uses "Smith" as at the time it was the most common surname in Britain and therefore symbolises the everyday people of Britain
  • Eva's story of poverty and suffering is the universal story of the common people
  • 'Smith' is a working class name, originating from 'blacksmith', and Priestley uses this to demonstrate that her class is a fixed part of her identity and origins, something that she can't escape
  • In using just two names to represent the entire working class, they lose identity as individuals. This suggests these are people that society has forgotten, or has simply ignored from the start
• Daisy Renton


  The Inspector suggests that Eva changed her name to Daisy Renton
• Gerald argues that Eva and Daisy are in fact two different girls and that the Inspector's story isn't true
• Why Priestley portrays Eva under two different names


  • Priestley uses this name change to demonstrate how Eva felt the need to change the direction of her life in order to survive in a society that is hostile towards people like her
  • After trying, and failing (as a result of the Birlings), to earn enough money through 'honest work' she resorts to prostitution which goes against her own moral principles
• Renton


  • Derived from the verb "rent", which was a euphemism for prostitution
  • She is forced to rent herself to survive, further lowering her standing in society - in a largely Christian world, prostitution (sex outside of marriage) was seen as sinful, and not viewed as a legitimate job
  • Although she is stigmatised for resorting to prostitution, the men who use her services are, in a sexual double standard, not treated in the same way
  • She is paid for her affection, company and body
• Significance of Eva's death


  • Eva's death is a necessary indicator of the consequences of the other characters' immoral actions
  • The worst-case scenario of suicide allows the characters and, more importantly, the audience to understand the fatal impact of careless individualism and capitalist attitudes
  • Eva Smith found herself in such a desperate situation that she saw suicide as the only way to end her suffering
• Disinfectant


  • Priestley evidences that Eva killed herself with "a lot of very strong disinfectant" demonstrating the deliberate and meaningful attempt to commit suicide
  • The sexual abuse and exploitation that Eva suffered at the hands of Eric and Gerald left her unclean and violated, therefore, she needed to be purified
• Graphic death


  • Priestley deliberately uses graphic language to describe the gruesome death of Eva in order to awaken the privileged upper class audience to the suffering of the working classes
  • Priestley uses the character of Eva to inflict guilt upon the Birling family to make them repent, change, and ultimately accept responsibility for their actions
  • The graphic adjectives "misery and agony" encourage the audience to empathise with Eva, as they would visualise the pain and suffering she had endured at the hands of the Birlings
  • Priestley intensifies Sheila's guilt as her enjoyment of life is at the expense of others
• Eva's death is used by Priestley to highlight to the audience the injustice and inequality among the social classes
• Why is Eva's identity never revealed?


  • Priestley does not reveal the identity of Eva Smith as an individual. This allows him to use her as a symbolic representation of the oppressed working class people (the masses)
  • If she were given a face, she would become an individual instead of a representation of all who suffer as a result of class inequality and capitalism
  • By keeping her faceless, the audience is encouraged to give her the face of whoever they may have personally impacted through individualistic actions, allowing them to gain a new outlook on their own actions instead of just condemning the Birlings
• Priestley wants the audience to reflect on whether Eva would have suffered to the same degree in their era
• Priestley allows the story of Eva's life to be told by other people, encouraging each member of the Birling family to describe their involvement with her in turn
• This reflects how her actual life was controlled and dictated by other people, eventually driving her to take her own life
• Priestley symbolises that the narrative of working class lives are told and controlled by the upper classes, demonstrating the control that the upper classes have over the working class
• Parallels between Sheila and Eva


  • Priestley establishes parallels between Sheila and Eva to demonstrate that the progression of a woman's life depends entirely on the family she is born into
  • This allows Priestley to comment on the inequality within society, as Sheila's life is easy because she is upper-class whereas Eva's life has been full of suffering due to being lower-class
  • Their physical descriptions are similar
  • Sheila's looming wedding and respected husband makes her "very pleased with life and rather excited" by the future, while Eva was so terrified of what tomorrow held that she killed herself, dying "hating life"
  • The contrast between the lives of the two young women is emphasised by making them similar in all ways except class - even down to the men they are connected to
• Priestley uses this parallel between characters to further his agenda of condemning the class system
• Eva exploited by the patriarchy


  • The male characters see her as a tool, an object
  • Alderman Meggerty had "wedged her into a corner with that obscene fat carcass of his". Eva was trapped in that corner by Meggerty, just as the upper class traps her and confines her to the working class
• Gerald's exploitation of Eva as his mistress


  • Gerald's lustful desires are evidenced through his predatory description of Eva/Daisy, who is "young and fresh and charming and altogether out of place down there"
  • Describing her like food makes it clear that he sees her as an object or possession
  • Gerald's misogynistic objectification evidences his sinful lust
  • There are connotations of purity as she is "out of place", which is possibly a euphemism for her still being a virgin
• Eva was trapped in that corner by Meggerty


  Just as the upper class traps her and confines her to the working class
• Gerald's exploitation of Eva


  Priestley explores how Eva is kept by Gerald in a possessive fashion as his mistress
• It is important to understand how Gerald's saving of Eva from the Palace Bar is in fact a superficial rescue; it a mere substitution of abusers
• Gerald's lustful desires


  Evidenced through his predatory description of Eva/Daisy, who is "young and fresh and charming and altogether out of place down there"
• Adjective "fresh"


  Bears connotations of desire and fertility, as Gerald views her with sexual desire from the start
• Describing her like food


  Makes it clear that he sees her as an object or possession
• Gerald's misogynistic objectification


  Evidences his sinful lust
• Connotations of purity


  As she is "out of place", which is possibly a euphemism for her still being a virgin
• Eva's innocence


  Refreshing for Gerald, who is used to the "hard-eyed" prostitutes of Palace Bar
• Eva actually benefited from her relationship with Gerald


  They had a genuine connection
• The Inspector evidences Eva's joy in their relationship as "she'd been happier than she'd ever been before"
• Gerald showed Eva some affection and kindness


  He listened to her and helped her in a time of need